U.S. Attorney for Nebraska: Fines add up

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Omaha collected more than $5 million in fiscal year 2017, acting U.S. Attorney Robert Stuart said Thursday, Feb. 1.

The money is for civil and criminal debts to the U.S. and criminal debts to federal crime victims, Stuart said.

Of $5,103,635 collected in Nebraska, nearly $4 million was in connection with criminal cases for the payment of restitution, penalties, and fines.

Another $1 million involved bankruptcies, commercial transactions and other civil judgments on behalf of a variety of federal agencies, the announcement said.

The office also participated, with other districts, in collecting an additional $150 million from one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the U.S. Department of Justice’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts.

The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss.

While restitution is paid to victims, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the Department’s Crime Victims’ Fund, which distributes the funds to victim compensation and assistance programs.

Stuart said the largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the U.S. recovered government money lost to fraud or other violations.

In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration, and Department of Education, Stuart said.